Miyerkules, Marso 19, 2014

Resource Speaker of Colonels – Political columnist Mortz C. Ortigoza (Wearing t-shirt and this Blog's administrator) explained to the colonels and chiefs of police of Pangasinan the modes of searching and seizing illegal objects without the benefit of a search warrant inside the vehicles. He was invited recently in Dagupan City, as an accidental resource speaker, by OIC Provincial Director Senior Superintendent Marlou Chan who wanted to brainstorm with his officers Ortigoza’s series of columns on searches and checkpoints in the humongous province.

This columnist, who used to preside over media men in their Kuatro-Kantos sessions, became an accidental resource speaker in a command conference composed of police colonels and majors of the Pangasinan Police Office and chiefs of police where OIC Provincial Director Marlou Chan asked them to brainstorm my observation on my previous columns on the mode of searching vehicles and the predictability of checkpoints. I wrote before that Rep. Leopoldo Bataoil (2nd District, Pangasinan) agreed with my observation that police men manning checkpoints should not be tied on visual search because criminals make them a laughing stock. Bataoil said peace officers worth their salt should use judgment call on how to search and seize illegal objects hidden inside the cars or motorcycles without the benefit of search warrant. He agreed with what I wrote that “consent” among motorists is enough to open their trunks and compartments as a lawful means to search vehicles without a search warrant. Colonel Chan and deputy provincial director Lt. Colonel Sison the two diminishing numbers of PMAyers (PMA last production of PC, the precursor of the PNP) was in 1992) at the Philipine National Police who are torn by the “sea” of Cavite graduates (Philippine National Police Academy like the snappy 6 –foot two- inch Dagupan City chief Lt. Colonels Cris Abrahano and Rodolfo Castro) and ROTC graduates like UPang’s (University of Pangasinan) pride Lt. Colonel Poly Cayabyab have a good time discussing with this writer (a humble graduate of MPSB or Mababang Paaralan ng San Andres Bukid) the nuances of what is the significance of a checkpoint and “judgment call”. Lt. Colonel Sison said search warrant is not necessary anymore when there is hostility inside the car like “nag-aaway na sila duon.”. Chan objected to the observation of his fellow Cavalier because hostility inside the car is already too obvious for the PNP to pacify by entering the car without the warrant. He asked his subordinates to explore the judgment call (e.g motorists acting nervously) Bataoil, a former two-star police general, espoused. Chan said being nervous could mean the motorist is hiding something illegal or he is being nervous because he fears the police would “plant” something illegal in case he opens his car or motorcycle.

A police officer cautiously implement the Stop and Frisk or the Terry Frisk to individuals he suspected to possess illegal objects like gun. This mode of search and seizure has been sanctioned by jurisprudence as necessary to put the lives of the police out of danger.

Political observers opined that barangay (village) election in the Philippines is more intense emotionally than the provincial and municipal elections in the May 13 polls this year.
The protagonists in the village elections, they said, have more personal ax to grind against each other than their counterparts in May 13.

There is this perception that killings through the use of guns particularly among political rivals and their supporters in this poll could eclipse those numbers of corpses in the May 13 electoral derby.
Barangay election is fast approaching. It would be held on October 28 this year. PNP incorporates Stop and Frisk
Since this writer was “flattered” by the disclosure of Pangasinan Police Director Senior Superintendent Marlou Chan that his article titled “Police Stop and Frisk help Lower Shooting Incidents “(that compared shooting incidents last year in the 8.5 million populated New York City that claimed 450 lives versus the 3 million populated thriving gun-for hire province Pangasinan where killers snapped out 249 lives in the same year (you can accessed it at http://wwwmortzcortigoza.blogspot.com/2013/08/polices-stop-and-frisk-help-lower.html) ) has been integrated in the Philippine National Police’s pilot project in Malasiqui town.
Police Regional Director Ricardo Marquez lauded recently on TV Chan and the provincial police rising star Lieutenant Colonel Rodolfo Castro (lately reassigned as chief of police of another "Tombstone" City San Carlos) whose Lennon-McCarthy collaboration in the Squad Patrol 101 (Read: Police visibility, check point, etc.) resulted in a zero shooting incident since the project’s inception recently.
The pronouncement of General Marquez on TV was refreshing since the 73 villages’ strong town has been a lair of hired killers according to the former chief of police there.“Bawat barangay dito may hired killer (Every village here has hired killer),” he told me over a cup of coffee in his office.

Assassins in Pangasinan thrive as Village poll approaches
Now that the village poll is just around the corner, assassins are honing their target shooting accuracy and their motorcycle proficiency in their hideouts ready to go for business to clients who can afford their price tag.
If remains unabated, this turmoil will cause losses of precious lives, a broken peace and order situation as residents live in fear, anxieties among public officials as the acrimonious media assailed them for their incompetence to put a plug on hit men in a rampage.
As what I told former police general and incumbent congressman Pol Bataoil in the last national and local election that the police are afraid to do the stop and frisk or open the trunk and compartment of the motorists even with the latter consent because the police fear the motorists complain or sue them at the People’s Law Enforcement Board, human right bodies, or the court.
“That’s part of the hazard of the service. But as long as the policeman is doing his job properly and in accordance with their police procedures they can defend their actions even in Plaza Miranda,” the solon told me.

Brief history and legal dynamics of Stop and Frisk
For starter, here’s the brief history and legal dynamics of Stop and Frisk (Terry v. Ohio) if the PNP wanted to adopt it on the October poll so it can mitigate the number of shooting incidents and other gun related crimes.
On October 31, 1963, while on a downtown beat which he had been patrolling for many years, Cleveland Police Department in the United States detective Martin McFadden, 62, saw two men, John W. Terry and Richard Chilton, standing on a street corner at 1276 Euclid Avenue and acting in a way the officer thought was suspicious.
Detective McFadden, who was well-known on the Cleveland police force for his skill in apprehending pickpockets, he observed the two proceed alternately back and forth along an identical route, pausing to stare in the same store window. Each completion of the route was followed by a conference between the two on a corner. The two men repeated this ritual alternately between five and six times apiece—in all, roughly a dozen trips. After one of these trips, they were joined by a third man (Katz) who left swiftly after a brief conversation. Suspecting the two men of "casing a job, a stick-up", detective McFadden followed them and saw them rejoin the third man a couple of blocks away in front of a store.

Police approach the suspects
The plainclothes officer approached the three, identified himself as a policeman, and asked their names. The men "mumbled something", whereupon McFadden spun Terry around, patted down his outside clothing, and felt a pistol in his overcoat pocket. He reached inside the overcoat pocket, but was unable to remove the gun. The officer ordered the three into the store. He removed Terry's overcoat, took out a revolver, and ordered the three to face the wall with their hands raised. He patted down the outer clothing of Chilton and Katz and seized a revolver from Chilton's outside overcoat pocket. He did not put his hands under the outer garments of Katz (since he discovered nothing in his pat-down which might have been a weapon), or under Terry's or Chilton's outer garments until he felt the guns. The three were taken to the police station. Terry and Chilton were subsequently charged with carrying concealed weapons.Guns seized on Stop and Frisk as Evidence
The defense of the charged individuals moved to suppress the use of the seized weapons as evidence (Filipino law practitioners called them Fruits of a Poisonous Tree) on grounds that the search and subsequent seizure were a violation of the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution (where Philippine Constitution adopted it at Section 2, Article III ( Illegal search and seizure" of the Bill of Rights).
Though the trial court rejected the prosecution theory that the guns had been seized during a search incident to a lawful arrest, the court denied the motion to suppress and admitted the weapons into evidence on the grounds that:
1) The officer had (reasonable doubt) cause to believe that Terry and Chilton were acting suspiciously;
2) That their interrogation was warranted, and;
3) That the officer for his own protection had the right to pat down their outer clothing having reasonable cause to believe that they might be armed.
Terry and Chilton were found guilty by Court of Common Pleas of Cuyahoga County (U.S version of the Philippines’ Regional Trial Court) , an intermediate appellate court (Philippines’ version of its Court of Appeals) affirmed the conviction, and the Ohio State Supreme Court dismissed the appeal on the ground that "no substantial constitutional question" was involved.

Despite the brouhahas spawned by the Stop and Frisk method by policemen in the cities of Philadelphia and New York, Filipino policemen who satisfied themselves to visual search can look how effective this method in deterring crimes like shooting incidents .
Stop and Frisk is a type of limited search when police confront a suspicious person in an effort to prevent a crime from taking place. The police frisk (pat down) the person for weapons and questions him.
According to the recent column of Dick Morris at DickMorris.com titled “ Stop And Frisk Decision Based On Tortured Reading Of The Constitution” the spate of crimes in the cities of New York ( 8.5 million population and Philadelphia (1.5 million population:) dwindled with 450 homicides and 334 homicides last year respectively.
“The ability to stop and frisk men lingering on street corners in the middle of the night in high drug and crime areas has played a key element in reducing the murder rate.
Particularly in concert with New York’s mandatory minimum three year sentence for possession of an unlicensed, loaded firearm within the city, the law has forced guns off the street and driven down the murder rate appreciably.
To measure the impact of the stop and frisk and mandatory minimum gun sentence laws, compare New York with Philadelphia. Both have lots of poverty — 21% in New York and 25% in Philadelphia. The per capita police presence in each place is comparable, “ Morris, a former Bill Clinton’s adviser, and Republican strategist, said.
***

“Imagine 450 shooting incidents in a population of 8.5 million in New York City versus the wild-west gun- for-hire Pangasinan with less than three million people, and we’re talking about New York as a city and not as a province.

Lunes, Marso 17, 2014

Are members of the 16th Congress still illegal recipients of the 10, 20 or more percent cut (S.O.P in the vernacular) from every project they interceded for in Malacanang?

In the March 6 page 2 issue of the Philippine Daily Inquirer “ Pork” still working for lawmakers” Leila B. Salaverria wrote: “The PDAF (Priority Development Assistance Fund) was then realigned to six executive agencies – the Commission on Higher Education (P2.66 billion); Department of Education (P1.022 billion); Department of Health (P3.69 billion); Department of Social Welfare & Development of Social Welfare & Development (P4.71 billion); Department of Labor & Employment (P3.69 billion); and Department of Public Works and Highways (P9.654 billion)”.

Does it mean if a subservient congressional ally of Malacanang can chalk up P10 million from one of this government entities through the imprimatur of the power-that-be, it is still monkey business as usual between the solon and his favorite private contractor?

As you know, one of the motivations for politicians in running for congressional office is the S.O.P they can get from the private contractor or supplier that implements a government project they scored. Before the evil Janet Napoles brought them to hell, the greediest of them I know in Region 1 pocketed up to 60% of a project allocated in a dredging operation of a river. This anomaly ensued through a conspiracy with the private contractor, members of the DPWH and Commission on Audit, and the lawmaker. Only 40% or P4 million goes to the haphazardly made operation while the P6 million of the P10 million projects have been divided by these vultures where the Lion share goes to the heartless solon.

With Malacanang needing the votes of members of Congress for important bills, it can marshal these vulnerable solons by ordering the heads of these departments and agencies to implement some of the billions of pesos of projects at their disposal to the district or constituency of the ally congressman or senator.

Biyernes, Marso 7, 2014

CALASIAO, Philippines – If Filipinos Allan Lindo known as Apple de App and Arnel Pineda show their mettle as front men of American bands Black Eyed Peas and Journey, can a Pangasinense fills the vacuum left by Queen’s flamboyant and crowd pleasing lead singer the late Freddie Mercury?

MITOY ROCKS THE BIR: ABS-CBN TV's Voice of the Philippines' champion
Michael Yonting belts recently some of his signature high pitch - ear-split-
ting rock and ballad songs before the dazzled guests and visitors of
the Philippines Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) in
Calasiao, Pangasinan.

“It’s my dream incase I’ll be invited (by the members of the band). But he (Mercury) is irreplaceable,” quipped by Michael “Mitoy” Yonting, whose meteoric rise to national fame was when he won the franchised “Voice of the Philippines” musical contest at TV station ABS –CBN.

Mercury and Yonting shared a powerful tenor voice.

Yonting was ambivalent in his answer when told by this paper that he can belt the songs written by Mercury compared to his (Mercury) wannabes Paul Rodgers and Adam Lambert who joined the remaining members of one of the world’s famous rock bands Brian May (lead guitarist) and Roger Taylor (drum).

Yonting, a resident of this burgeoning town, said he is presently recording his album that will be released to the public in April this year.

Queen's lead singer the flamboyant Freddie

Mercury

(front row)

The fancy for Yonting in egging him to try his luck with the British rock band was conceived when some hard and progressive rock fans and balladeers here led by Ryan Orbon compared the singing prowess of Rodgers who sang with Queens from years 2004 to 2009, Adams who sings with the band from 2012 to 2013, and Yonting at YouTube where the trio crooned the songs of Queen.

In that YouTube video, Rodgers, Adams, and Yonting sang “Bohemian Rhapsody” at London, “We Will Rock You” at Ukraine, and “Don’t Stop me Now” at the Voice of the Philippines at ABS-CBN, respectively.

In a lecture given to officers of the court and peace officers, Court of Appeals Justice Mario Lopez (nah, not the actor Mario Lopez, host of some American TV shows) said the Supreme Court decided that the informer, like in an illegal drug raid or arrest, is not required to be summoned by the court as witness.
“Normally they are not presented as witness because their lives would be put in jeopardy. They would be killed!” the justice stressed.
But he said it is a different story if the one involved is a poseur buyer (under covered agent posing as buyer).
“He is allowed by the Supreme Court to be a witness”.
Lopez educated the attendees what is “constructive possession” in an illegal drug case.
He cited a case where the highest tribunal affirmed the conviction of a husband in a possession of an illegal drug despite he was not caught in flagrante delicto (caught in the act) carrying it.

By Mortz C. OrtigozaDAGUPAN CITY - One of Asia’s foremost geo-political experts did not believe that the saber rattlings between China and some Asian countries will result in a shooting war.
Former five –time Speaker Jose de Venecia said he did not see any eminent explosion of conflict in the East and South China Seas with China versus Japan and the Philippines.
“All of these will be settled by diplomacy and negotiation,” he stressed.
He said the belligerent attitude shown by Japan’s hawkish Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and China President Xi Jinping only drumbeat their self-confidence before the eyes of their constituents.
“Well, both are talking self-confident action for home politics. In the end, all of them will seat and settle these issues satisfactory to the satisfaction of both sides,” he said.
De Venecia said it was just normal for the United States commercial airlines to seek first the notification of the Chinese for them to pass the Area Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) in East Asia that China unilaterally proclaimed.

After the 69th anniversary of the historic Lingayen Gulf Landing in January 9 at the Veterans Memorial Park in Lingayen, Pangasinan came to an end media colleague scampered from their locations and started “ambushed interviews” their prey like governor, mayors and even military and police officials who have ran-off with news worthy events the day before.

Author poses a strike with Australian Ambassador
Bill Tweddell extreme right) after his interview.

“It seems nobody interviews Australian Ambassador Bill Tweddell (the one who graced the occasion),” I told some capitol officials who were retired colonels at the sideline when I saw three Caucasians in a huddle at the Australian veteran’s shrine.
I hesitated to rush at the guy sporting a long sleeve light brown barong dress since: First, I left most of my English proficiency skills at our house in Dagupan City; Second I was not certain if he was His Excellency exchanging pleasantries with two huge white men (one in a Navy uniform while the other was in a blue barong but both sport an array of medals located on their left breast).
“Sir, are you the ambassador of Australia?” I asked the guy with a long sleeve barong after I mustered all my strength to draw sword with the envoy in Her Majesty the Queen and Shakespeare’s language.
“Yes,” he retorted.

Barangay Chairman Godfrey Carbonel of Talogtog, Mangaldan has been endorsed by various sectors in the famous tapa (dry meat) town as representative of the Liga ng mga Barangay (League of Barangays) for the People’s Law Enforcement Board (PLEB) as the village chief who used to represent the League passed away.
“Mayor Bonafe de Vera-Parayno should appoint Kapitan Godo for the PLEB since he is the most qualified from the Liga. He is a Bachelor of Laws graduate, a perceptive member of the media that could bring PLEB- Mangaldan to places.

Recently, Bombo Radyo – Dagupan asked my stand on the call of some quarters for the total ban of amateur boxing in the provincial and regional games participated by students in public and private schools.

Protective Gears for Amateur Boxers

The call, I said, is like swathing a fly with a sledge hammer.

“You kill boxing in these categories; you kill our chances to get medals in the Olympic,” I hissed in a phone patch.

The death of 16 year-old Jonas Joshua Garcia who fell in a coma in a boxing match organized by the Department of Education (DepEd) at the Central Luzon Regional Athletic Association in Iba, Zambales was an exception. The doctor commissioned by the DepEd in that competition should be investigated for negligence or incompetence and if found guilty should be given corresponding sanctions by the DepEd and the Philippine Regulatory Commission.

Why kill the sport that give us global honor in Manny Pacquiao and others when it was the fault of school officials who did not observe due diligence?

Medical Guidelines in Boxing

As we know DepEd amateur boxing rules dictate, just like those rules in the Amateur Boxing Association of the Philippines, that before a pug boxes he first contacted the school’s physician (1) to obtain a thorough physical examination, (2) to assure that no pre-existing medical conditions exist that would pose an unusual risk to the participant, and (3) obtain independent medical advice concerning the short and long-term risks of participation.

We should not rash to condemn boxing as a killer contact sport. Is Tae Kwan Do, Wrestling, Wushu, or arnis contact sports too? Then son of a gun, they should be banned too!

Boxing is No. 23 Less Dangerous Sport

Despite the obvious risks involved in any contact sport, a U.S National Safety Council accident report ranked amateur boxing 23rd on its list of injury-producing sports and rated it the safest of all contact sports ...safer than football, wrestling, gymnastics and in-line skating.
According to Cantu, Boxing and Medicine, Human Kinetics Illinois, studies say that amateur boxing's fatality rate is 1.3 fatalities per 100,000 participants. Compare this to the fatality rates for college football (3), scuba diving (11), mountaineering (51) and sky-diving (123).

Geez whiz if that should be the cases then we should ban too mountaineering and sky- diving since they kill more people than boxing if that kind of argument was the Raison d'etre (main reason) of those Filipino and foreign skeptics.

When I bumped recently into former five- time Speaker Joe de Venecia, I asked him if the gubernatorial bid of former congressman Mark Cojuangco will reinvigorate the chances of 2016 presidential bet Mar Roxas since Cojuangco’s Nationalist People’s Coalition is the dominant party in the almost three million population Pangasinan?

“Well you know, it’s too early to talk about national and local politics what I’m saying whoever should build a powerful coalition that will address the problem of poverty and corruption, climate change, and the creation of hundreds of thousands of jobs,” he cited.

I asked de Venecia, known as connoisseur of international politics in Asia if not the world, of President Benigno C. Aquino III comparisons of Mainland China to Nazi Germany when the latter annexed Sudetentland in Czechoslovakia at the behest of the Allied Forces’ Great Britain, France, Soviet Union , and others to appease Adolf Hitler’s Germany not to launch war against them (but gee whiz this did not happen as Hitler took, some through his dazzling blitzkrieg, Austria (1938), Poland (1939), Belgium (1940), France (1940), Netherlands (1940), Luxemburg (1940), Channel Islands (1940), Romania (1940), and some parts of the Soviet Unions (1940), Yugoslavia and Greece (1941), Serbia (1941), Crete (1941), and Estonia (1941)- Mortz).